Solidarity from one RTA plant to another - A donation of $60,000 per month until July to support locked out employees in Alma

ALMA, QC, Feb. 16, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - At a general meeting held yesterday evening, the workers at the Rio Tinto plant in Kitimat, British Columbia voted unanimously to provide solid financial support to the 780 locked out Rio Tinto workers in Alma. Each of them will dedicate the equivalent of one hour of pay to support their colleagues in Québec, from now until July, when their own collective agreement comes up for renewal. In concrete terms, this amounts to approximately $60,000 per month that will go towards supporting the locked out Steelworkers of Alma to preserve quality jobs in the region.

"We have the same employer, and the outcome of the lockout in Alma is likely to affect us here when our turn comes. We have noted an increase in outsourcing in the past year, we know that if RTA has free rein in Québec to do more, the repercussions are likely to hit us here as well," points out the President of CAW Local 2301, Ed Abreu, who visited the locked out employees in Alma last January.

The President of Local 9490, Marc Maltais, warmly acknowledged this support. "Apart from the financial support itself, which is very important, this shows that the battle we are waging here is also a battle for the entire workers' movement, a battle to preserve the middle class," maintains Mr. Maltais.

The United Steelworkers, affiliated with the Fédération des travailleurs et des travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), is the largest private-sector union in Québec. It represents over 60,000 workers in a number of sectors including mining, metallurgy, lumber, industrial manufacturing, security, hotels, restaurants, trucking, taxi, etc.

Solidarity

Comment by Ralph Bartel on 19th February 2012 Ed, I commend your local for their support. I would also like to highly recommend your membership get a copy of " Locked Out" a documentary of the lockout in Boron California by Rio Tinto. I've viewed this and feel this would be very beneficial information for your membership in their up coming battle with Rio Tinto. Here is the link. http://www.lockedout2010.org/. I stand in support of your local in the fight for the survival of the middle class.In solidarityRalph Bartel